Apotropaic Apparatus
by Niko
Summary: A Princess Mononoke Concept-Crossover. Yaoi/Shonen Ai
1. Default Chapter

When the strong grow weak, the oppressed gain power. It is the universal law which tips the scales in favor of the underdog. it is as true now as it was at the dawn of man's existence when the gods created the Earth and divided it into four halves: the land, winds, sea and heavens. It was true in the time mortals destroyed their gods to rise as the lords of this vast planet and true when the last dieing gods cursed the world to age and die with their last breaths. Without the creator, the creation withers to oblivion. Some truths withstand time itself while most of history remains distorted. In the times of the gods, peace and balance were plentiful and the four devisions were in harmony. When divine blood fell to mortal tongues, the earth shook violently, the seas flooded the land, the winds rushed in giant cyclones and the heavens fell. And yet, the craft mortals survived for they had found their own magic.   
Technology.  
From dire equipment to mere luxuries, mortals filled their lives with technological slaves, becoming dependent upon the quick and efficient machines. But now, in the mind of the creation, the creator has become weak.   
In the year After Colony 199, the universal law may once again tip the feeble scales of power.   
History, when viewed in ignorance, will always repeat itself.  
Apotropaic Apparatus  
  
Loud music, great drinks and all the ass you can grab. A tall, lean man sitting at a table near the dance floor tipped his glass back and swigged the contents dry. A night like every other night. Women in skimpy red dresses shook what they were worth in men's faces while men did little more than walk from chick to chick, like auctioneers checking out the different varieties of goods. The man at the table snickered. Such child's play. A real man did his shopping from the crowds, spectating, waiting for the diamond in the ruff to show herself... or himself. He wasn't too picky. If it had a body to die for a somewhere to stick 'it' then he was satisfied. To his despair, the dance floor held little sport for him on this night. Maybe his expectations were too high. His glass empty, he waved for a waitress. They were pretty cute. 'Last Resort' had a reputation to uphold and scantly clad asses, revealing tops and bare midriffs were just a premier next to most of their attractions. Still, there was something very appealing tonight about a certain chestnut haired waitress at the bar. To his distaste, a young blonde came instead of the distant brunet, smiling and tapping her pen against her over-exposed breasts.   
"Can I get you anything, mister?"   
He shook his head and pointed towards the other girl, "See that one right there?" he asked.   
The blonde nodded, "Yeah, he's new here. Just started last week. Why, ya interested?"   
He? The man looked up and down the distant figure, eyeing the long legs that were hidden beneath very tight black pants and the even longer braid that fell like silk from the ponytail holder at the nape of the slender neck. Even from here the violet of 'his' eyes was striking and evident beneath the shroud of chestnut bangs.   
"You mean that one's a boy?" he asked, aloud this time.   
The blonde nodded, "Name's Duo. Real nice guy," she spat out the gum she had been chewing and added it to the collection under his table,   
"' Hear he does 'favors' too, if you're interested."   
The man looked past her again, this time catching the boy's eyes in his own, their stares locked.   
"Favors, eh?" he stood, slipping a twenty into the blonde's bra, "Tell him to meet me in room 2B."   
She smiled and walked away, giving a little squeal as he slapped her butt in passing.   
The man walked down the stair and bumped into another crazed kid from the dance floor. He pushed the young man away from him without a word. That kid was lucky today. The prospect of sex has a rather calming effect on a man's temper.   
Duo saw the blonde coming back and greeted her kindly as she came to stand beside him, offering a hello rather than a grope or goose.   
Nice guys like him don't belong in places like these, she though.   
Duo noticed the edge of the twenty sticking out from her shirt and nodded at it, "So, tell me. How come you get all the big tippers 'round here?"   
She smiled slyly, "That comes with experience, kid."   
"Duo!"   
The American looked over the bar to his employer, a well-built man in his forties with a receding hairline and thinning beard.   
"Take table seventeen, got that?"   
Duo nodded but a black leather gloved hand held him in place, "Get Connie to take it. Duo's already got a customer."   
Duo quirked an eyebrow in confusion.   
"Room 2B. Mr. Big Tipper. Told him about your little specialties and he's interested. Better hurry down there."   
"My speci..." Duo's eyes lit up, "Oh... Well then, I'd better get going. Do I owe you anything for the advertisement?"   
She shook her head, "Just be careful, kid. And remember that up front pricing advise I gave ya. No pay, no lay."   
Duo laughed lightly, "Gotcha." He smiled at her as he left and ambled down the back stair. Room 2B. The basement. It was colder down there and the rooms less spacious than the smoke rooms upstairs but one didn't need too much room. Just enough for a bed. Not even that much in some cases. Duo smiled to himself. With any luck he'd make enough money on this one to go without for a while. 2B was the first door on the right and lit with a crimson light that spilled across the floor and under the closed door. Duo stood before it and knocked.   
"Come in my violet eyed angel."   
Duo opened the door and peered inside. 2B was much more spacious than some of the other ones. Not only did it have a bed but a chair and small table in the front. The tall man sat in the chair, a new glass of crimson wine poured into a tall crystal cup. He smiled, "You're even more beautiful at short distance."   
Duo sat down on his lap and nuzzled his throat, "So they say." He trailed his hands down the masculine chest, running circles across the muscles and tight abs, "I'm not cheap. Fifty dollars. But I sware to you it's worth it. Still interested?"   
The man smiled, a quirky gleam in his eyes that belonged in one much younger.   
"Show me."   
The man grabbed his wandering hands and pulled them firmly to his groin and the burning erection that lay restricted beneath the jeans.   
Duo purred seductively, "I meant the money. But I like it when a man gets to the point."   
"So do I." The man trailed a finger over the soft tinted lips and skin before kissing the corner of his charcoal smudged eyes, "Be a good little boy and prove you're as good as you say. I like my pleasure before business."   
Duo stood up, hands on his narrow hips, "Pleasure? I don't work in the field of pleasure. I'm an administrator of extecey." he reached behind and plucked the tie from his hair, letting it fall over him in cascading waves.   
The man groaned with desire, hands reaching out as if to touch the silken strands.   
The longhaired boy tipped his head back and trailed his hands down his own body, stopping at the waistband of his pants. He gave the sitting man a sly wink before reaching down into leather shorts and moaning deeply, his arm clenching and moving to it's own beat, far different to the one hammering above on the dance floor.   
The man watched, his mouth watering at the site and body aching with need to join in the dance. Duo took notice of the soundless pleas and withdrew his hand.. and a gun.   
One shot and it was over. The silenced bullet planted itself between the eyes of the man in the chair who's face remained a mack of horror and betrayal. Duo smiled and bent over the man, reaching into his back pants pocket and extracting a black disk and wallet. Cheap bastard only had a hundred stashed in it. Mr. Hank Parish. Ironic.   
Duo rose his wristwatch communicator to his mouth, speaking clearly into it's disguised microphone, "Target destroyed. Disk attained. Mission Accomplished. Copy that, James?"   
There was a brief period of silence before his communicator replied, "Ten four. I'm pulling the car to the back entrance. Be out there in forty second."   
"Roger." Duo slipped the disk into his own pants and smiled at the corps, "Nice doing business with ya, Mr. Parish."   
With that, he left his calling card. A shot in the heart, left shoulder, and then right. "In the name if the father, son, and holy spirit. Tell um Shinigami sent ya."   
He left the crimson room and ran down the cool concrete halls. No one would care when they found the dead man. He didn't want to be around when they did though. Death always lead to cops, lawyers, lawsuits and prison. Escape lead to another day, another kill, another job well done and a fat sum instantly added to his bank account.   
James's black Honda sped around the corner, stopping only at the poison green exit sign that Duo stood under, masked by shadows of the night. Duo raced across the ally and into the passenger seat. James took off and Duo let out a sigh of relief.   
"Let me see it." James ordered.   
Duo complied, handing him the black disk. James looked over it as he drove, "This is it alright. Think you can decode and debug it at your office?"   
Duo nodded, "Why risk it? HQ could do all that more efficiently than my home software."   
"Perhaps," He handed it back, placing both hands on the steering wheel, "I'd still feel better if you handled it. I don't trust Headquarters much since that last incident with the camera failure in lab 9."   
Duo nodded again, redepositing the disk on his person, "Fine them. I'll fax the resultant data to you in the morning."   
"No hurry. I've got a private mission that'll occupy my time for the next week or so. Just see what you can do with it in your spare time."   
"Roger."   
James smiled, pushing back his dark blue hair and watching through his glasses as Duo took to braiding his own chestnut locks, "You know, that outfit looks pretty damn good on you."   
"Just remember what happened to the last guy who said that."   
The driver laughed, a warm sound in the cold night, "Whatever. Seriously though, you played that part extremely well. If this assassin thing ever gets old, I suggest you take up waitressing at the 'Last Resort'."   
Duo shrugged him off, "Guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do." He tied the end of his braid and flung it back behind him. It reached his knees now, having grown out even longer in the past three years. A liability, true, but one he could never part with. "How much did I make for this one?"   
"_We_ made over thirteen hundred. That's about six hundred a piece, plus whatever ya stoll from the target."   
"Not enough."   
James nodded, "HQ will double that if you can decode that disk."   
The American's smile lifted, "Is that so.... What's on this thing anyway?"   
James shook his head, "If we knew that then we wouldn't need to decode it."   
The car stopped and Duo looked out his window. Home sweet home.   
"Thanks for the help, James. Couldn't have done it without ya."   
The blue haired man nodded, "What can I say? I'm the best damn intelligence expert out there. You keep safe, ya hear? I'm not gonna be around to pick your ass up off the cement for a while."   
"Yeah, whatever. I can take care of myself. See ya, man."   
James waved and drove off as Duo entered his tired old apartment complex. It seemed to him that the rattling of keys was just as good as saying, 'Heero, I'm home!' since the moment he took them out, he could hear him moving around behind the door. He entered his apartment and peered lovingly at the face of his best friend, Heero Maxwell. His cat.   
"Hey, Heero, did you miss me?"   
The cat purred and nuzzled his legs.   
"Yeah, I know. Long night. Bet you're hungry, huh?"   
Heero sat back on his hind legs and looked quizicaly at his master's face.   
"Come on. I'll fill you're bowl."   
Cat and Master walked side by side into the Ground Zero affectionally termed 'the kitchen'. Or should it be the other way around? Duo opened the top cabnit and pulled out the bag of cat food. It smelled bad but compared to most of the other stenches in his kitchen, it didn't make a dent. Bowl full and kitty content, Duo moved back to his room and flipped on the computer. The blue haze filled the dark room. He'd forgotten to buy a light bulb. Well, he'd spent most of his money on the costume. A one time wear. Well... the pants were pretty nice.. But other than that he had five pounds of leather which would never chafe his skin again. He wasn't sure if that was relief passing through his veins or resentment. Disk out a deposited in the A drive, Duo sat down before his monitor and began hacking his way through the information. This was more a job for Heero, the real Heero that is. Duo wasn't half bad but not half as good as him. With quick fingers and a quicker mind, he scraped off the first few layers of coding. His Heero had long since finished his dinner and had found his master's lap to be a very inviting resting place indeed. Duo stroked the cat while his eyes surveyed the disk data. No wonder James had told him to take him time. It was a three day job at best. He sank back into his chair. He needed that money now. Not in three days and certainly not by the end of the week if things fell back.   
Duo sat back and reaccessed the situation. He clicked a few keys and the lights went out, his computer shutting down in mid program. Any progress he'd made was lost. Duo, while not widely renowned for him temper, lost it. He kicked the chair away and into the 'dinning room' and slapped the CPU with his hands "Stupid machine! Damn, crazy, stupid machine!"   
He punched the eject button and grabed hold of the extended black disk.   
An ark of blue-violet waves fell over his left hand, sending a cold, electrifying fire through his arm. It burned. He pulled back, shaking the arm as if it would help shed away the pain. With one last outburst he ran to the 'bathroom' and stuck his arm in the 'sink', turning freezing water on to cool his aching arm.   
"Damn crazy machine.. shocked me...better not leave a mark..." he waited for the pain to subside and quickly gauzed up the flesh, red with irritation. It still hurt but it wasn't mind fogging, just a distraction, It'd be find in the morning, he told himself as he walked back to his computer, ready to exact revenge with a baseball bat.   
It was back on, a blinking message lit up on screen. Duo would have sat but found his chair had somehow magically disappeared. He clicked the message and read his new mission.   
"Kill Relena Peacecraft. Nineteen thousand dollars. Payment in advance."   
He went online and immediately checked his bank statements. A deposit of exactly nineteen thousand dollars had been added.   
"Kill Relena?" Duo smiled, "And get paid to do it? Mission Accepted."   
  
  



	2. Two

Relena Peacecraft, once Queen of the World, sat restfully in her tired oak chair, wishing nothing more than to be left alone to think and let her troubled mind ease. The Board would not have it though. Meeting after eternal meeting passed on through the lazy afternoon, each discussing muddling into the next. After about the umpteenth speaker, her wheat colored hair became rather amusing and she took to winding it around her fingers. Who would have thought keeping peace would be so dull? She'd had enough excitement for one lifetime though. Let the world and outer space breath easily now while negotiations took place in these quiet little rooms, she thought. Still, she missed the heart pounding, adrenalin rush of it all. Perhaps Dorothy, Milliardo, the Gundam pilots and even the deceased general Treize had been right all alone. War was human nature. Whether one was Japanese or European, black or white, spoke Spanish or Hungarian, male or female, they all fell victim to human nature. It was rather amazing if one though about it. So many wars fought between groups of different people purely because they were different. And here, in this one ideology, their cause was diminished. People were people, regardless of all else. Amazing the things you learn when you've nothing more interesting to think about. Maybe that was how peace really worked out. You bored each other till someone came up with some interesting philosophy to bind all people. Well, mission accomplished. Mission... Relena let out a suffered sigh and let her head droop.  
  
"Miss Peacecraft?"  
  
Relena's head bobbed back up and her back stiffened. The room turned to look at her, all eyes focused on the ruler of Sanq. With more effort that should have been necessary, she stood and smiled with exhaustion, "I believe we have heard enough discussion for one day. You're all dismissed."  
  
She sat back down, not caring to watch as the others departed in whispers. She was tired, emotionally as well as physically.  
  
Two hands took hold of her shoulders and began unwinding her taunt muscles. Though initially startled, Relena relaxed, her head lolling to the front to give the massager more room and freedom to pleasure her thoughts and fears away.  
  
"How long has it been since you had a good nights sleep?"  
She paused, thinking, "How long has he been gone, James? The last night I remember sleeping well enough to dream was the nigh before he vanished." She tilted her head back, peering into the sea green eyes that lay framed behind blue tinted half glasses.  
  
James Opi was a specialist in the fields of science and humanities and well sought for in times of peace when such knowledge had become the prime focus. Rather than work for any corporation or kingdom such a Sanq, James was rumored to be in alliance with an underground facilitation, which, in all means, was a complete mystery. Even James himself never revealed confirmation of his affiliations but did divulge the few, Relena included, with some clues. His beloved organization was known only to these sparse friends as Headquarters. The strict yet warm and welcoming blue haired man had quickly become one of Relena's prized friends.   
Relena frowned. A good friend, but not 'Him'.  
  
James sighed and moved his hands down her arms, "He's been gone for nearly a month now. It's not healthy to lay awake worrying over him." Another sigh escaped him as he rested his chin on her head, "Why didn't you tell me you were having trouble sleeping?"  
  
"I didn't want to worry you or anyone else for that matter. I'll be all right." She forced a smile, "You and Headquarters have any new leads yet?"  
  
He shook his head then straitened up, walking towards the door, "I'll inform you of any changes or information I come across. I've devoted all my time to this. I'll find him." He left.  
  
The silence in the space he occupied seemed so cold now. Empty. Like the room down the hall.... Tears she'd kept hidden in the mess and confusion slid down her cheek and puddle in her lap. After fighting so long for peace, who would have thought the real battle would be the fight for love.  
  
"No more tears oja-san."  
  
That voice... Relena's head jerked back only to be met with the barrel of a pistol and a strong hand pushing her back into her chair, the steel hard grip pressing against her shoulder.  
  
"Duo?!"  
  
The violet-eyed teen smiled, an expression that touched his lips and nothing more. His eyes were dead. "That's Shinigami to you, oja-san. Your time has come."  
  
Despite everything, Relena smiled, "I know we never got along but I never realized you hated me enough to throw away your future like this. Killing me in a busy building full of delegates and their bodyguards? Is one shot worth a lifetime in prison... or even your own death, Duo?"  
  
"I'm not doing this because of any personal grudge, Miss Relena," he said, making the pleasantry sound like an insult, "I'm doing this for the money." He cocked his gun, the sound ringing like the song of the deathwatch cricket in the girl's ear.  
  
"How much?" she asked.   
  
Duo smiled again, "Fifteen thousand. That's the best deal I've made all season. You should feel honored."  
  
Relena didn't bat a lash. "Three million dollars."  
"Paying to spare your own life won't work. As tempting a sum as that, I never go back on a deal. I run, I hide, but I never lie and as far as I'm concerned, cheating falls right in there with the lying bit."  
  
"Three million," she repeated, "To work once for me on a mission of my choosing. You can kill me when you've completed this task. That's your fifteen thousand and my three million. Any man of business could see this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."  
  
With the gun pulled back just a tab bit, Duo leaned forward, "You mean you'll let me kill you and still pay me for doing a simple mission for you in return?" with a gratifying nod, he holstered his gun, "Now we're talking business."  
  
Relena watched as Duo took his seat on the long, rectangle table of the meeting room. He was dressed in all black; skintight pants and vest, except for the blue-violet sleeves that extended from under the zip down top. All in all, it was a far way different from the preachers garbs she remembered from their past.   
  
"How did you get in here, Duo? Security's supposed to be impenetrable."  
  
He winked and smiled, this time the gesture was genuine, "Impenetrable for any ordinary thief or assassin but not this one."  
  
"So you're a professional then?"  
  
Duo nodded, "Long story. Keeps my stomach full and cloths on my back though."  
  
"You mean killing innocent people in times of peace means nothing but a paycheck to you?" Relena spat, feeling rather sickened at the boy before her.  
  
  
"It's not exactly like that." He twisted his long braid around his wrist, "The way I see it, I'm helping keep the peace."  
  
"Peace can't be accomplished through dea-"  
  
A pale fingers silenced her, "Let me finish before you switch to bitch mode, okay? Look, you keep your peace by knowing what you're doing is right, right? It's the same with me, only my peace comes from knowing that the man at the receiving end of my gun was doing something wrong." He let his words sink in before he spoke again, "Yeah, most of our wars start with death or misunderstanding but I'm not the one killing the delegates and presidents, I'm the one you see taking care of the would be assassin."  
  
"And what about me?" Relena asked, "What am I endangering?"  
  
Duo shrugged his shoulders, "You could be funding a dangerous organization, or even unknowingly signing bills which isolate and punish a certain group of people. The list goes on and on when political people are the concern. I'm not the one who decides who kicks it and who doesn't. I just do the deed like a good lil' Shinigami." He glanced at Relena for s second, violet daggers baring into her blue eyes, "I never make things personal.. as much as I would like to in some cases."  
  
Relena nodded in understanding, "So you're not just some cold blooded killer... in your mind anyway." She watched Duo wince, "You had other skills... you could have been anything..."  
  
"Excuse me oja-san but you don't know anything about my options as far as vocation goes so just drop it. I thought you had a mission for me."  
  
She nodded. Perhaps a subject change was in order. "I want you to find someone for me."  
  
"That easy huh?" Duo laughed, "I love a good game of hide and seek. Who's my target?"  
  
"This isn't a seek and destroy mission." Duo nodded and she continued, "I want you to find Heero Yuy."  
  
Duo jumped up, standing on the table top, "What?! No way, I am not going to play that little game! No deal, no mission."  
  
"It's not what you think!" Relena stood as well, palms laying hard against the table surface, "Heero's been kidnapped! This is a rescue mission!"  
  
"Kidnapped? Are you sure he didn't just get tired of being your personal lap dog?" Duo winced at his own words. God, it hurt to think of the two of them together. Sure, he and Heero had been nothing but friends... but...they'd been close and... Duo cursed. Who was he fooling? He had loved the self-destructing baka and the guy had seen him as nothing but a formidable ally. What a relationship there. Romance novel material for sure. Yeah right. Whatever.  
  
"Duo," Relena's voice was firm and commanding, "I've got copies of the criminal reports if you need them. He was kidnapped. His room was in shambles and all we found was a strange black disk in his laptop."  
  
"Black disk?" Duo shot back to a sitting position, "Can I see it? Where is it?"  
  
"I don't know. It was stolen from the crime scene. We haven't seen it since his disappearance."  
  
"Were there any strange markings in the room?" Duo asked.  
  
"Strange? Like what?"  
  
Duo bit his bottom lip, seemingly thinking something over. He unzipped his black tank top, revealing that the blue-violet sleeves were really pieces taken from a shirt that had been cut away and tied in the front and back with string so as to only over his arms and most of his chest. He untied the string and pulled the left one off completely. Relena gasped. Twisting shades of blue wound up his arm to the elbow. They looked like horrible burns but appeared solid and unnatural. Strange indeed.  
  
"I.. I didn't see anything like that... how.."  
  
Duo quickly covered it back up, "I was hacking into a stolen black disk I'd recovered on a mission and the information inside caused this... I thought it was a fluke but I tried it again. This time, my pen was completely covered it this... whatever it is."  
  
Relena nodded, spellbound, "Do you think it was the same disk? That Heero..."  
  
"I don't know for sure but I don't think there's much of a chance that there are two suspicious black disks flying around. If the crime fits the time line then there is a possibility it's the same one." Duo interrupted, " If it wasn't kidnap and he did just leave though, I could see why. Who wants to have people see this stuff on them.."  
  
Relena nodded. To prospect of Heero scared or damaged in the way Duo's arm was was just too... discerning. She wanted her Heero to be all right. "Does it hurt much?"   
  
Duo shook his head, "Only sometimes... it's more a blemish than a pain I suppose."  
  
Feeling sympathetic, Relena put her hand on his left arm, "It isn't as bad as you think. It's almost pretty."  
  
"Yeah, in that swamp thing, creature from green hell kind of way.." Duo sighed, "So, Heero had the black disk... do you know who he got it from?"  
  
"It came by mail." Relena answered, "It came the day before he vanished."  
  
"Who sent it?"  
  
".... It had no name. Just a city." Relena offered, calling on her memory, "It was in Manifest, England. A PO box but I don't remember the number. Heero threw the envelope away." She let her head fall to the table, "Why didn't I think to look at the disk for clues... I could have found him weeks ago."  
  
"Weeks? How long has he been gone?"  
  
"A month next Tuesday."  
  
Duo straitened up, slid off the table and walked to the door, "Then I'd better get started."  
"Wait!" Relena shouted, "You can't leave through the front door! Security will have you arrested looking as suspicious as you do."  
  
Duo turned the knob and walked into the hall, glancing at her over his shoulder as he left, "No one sees a blind beggar when their pockets are full. Why should a man see Shinigami when he has so much left to live for?"  
  



	3. Three

Manifest, England was by far one of the most beautiful places Duo had ever stepped foot on. The grass was green as emerald gems and the sky seemed clearer than any other place on the world he'd had the chance to visit. Perhaps it was the weather or perhaps it was the season but the fact remained, Manifest was beautiful He stepped off the plane and smiled at the man who carried the black duffel to him.  
  
"Is this all you brought with you sir?"  
  
Duo nodded, "I don't plan on staying long. Just business."  
  
The man seemed confused, "Business? You mean you're not here for the conference?"  
  
"What conference?" Duo shouldered his bag and began to walk with the attendant towards the gate, both being the last to exit the shuttle.  
  
"Lady Kyldre is holding a conference all this week in honor of the World Beauty Association."  
  
The WBA was well known for its movements to preserve the remaining rainforests and natural resources still found in the earth. Lady Kyldre was just as well known. Founder and main operative of the foundation, she led most of the protests against those who took the world and its balance for granted. In truth, since the beginning of the colonies, humans had become less concerned with the condition of their planet. The colonies had become a promise for eternal life, the savior against extinction. For environmentalists, human advancement and further exploration of space only meant devastation for the Earth. In the beginning stages of colonization, the WBA had been called in for suspicion of sabotage.  
  
Duo's mouth tightened into a thin line. Could the WBA have anything to do with the black disks? They were said to greatly oppose technology, fearing it would one day replace humans as the ruling species of the planet. Still, the conference and the disk both hailed from Manifest.  
  
"Lady Kyldre, hm?" he said aloud, "You wouldn't happen to know the topic of the conference this year, would you?"  
  
The man snickered, "Anybody here could tell you that. Lady Kyldre is planning to reveal her latest plan to ensure human life on the planet earth. She hasn't clued to what exactly it is but everyone from across the globe and even from the colonies is coming." He scratched his head, wisps of hair coming astray from his comb over, "I'm sorry, but I thought everyone coming into Manifest was attending."  
  
Duo looked towards the rental car desk, "Now that you mention it, it sounds interesting," Duo lied, "I'll think about it. Thanks a lot. I can manage from here, sir."  
  
"Of course you can." He smiled and extended his left hand, "I hope you enjoy your visit here in Manifest."  
  
Duo looked at the offered hand then at his own. "You'll excuse me if I don't shake your hand, sir. Consider it a phobia."  
  
He nodded, "That's alright kid, everybody's got one."   
  
Duo watched as he left and picked up his reserved car. Everybody in the town seemed to have permanent smiles pasted to their faces. If you thought airline stewardesses were overly enthusiastic, you hadn't seen anything. From the bubbly girl behind the counter to the equally so one holding out his keys, everyone was all smiles and giggles. It was sickening. Duo hopped in his car and drove to his hotel without a care. He'd learned long ago that life wasn't all 'smiles and giggles' and seeing the ignorant expressions made him sick. Sure, they hadn't fought a war. They hadn't seen the death and destruction both inflicted on and caused by him. They hadn't heard the screaming, seen the tears, the blood. But each person had their own hell. Maybe their father was some deadbeat jerk, maybe they were married to an abusive spouse, maybe someone close to them had died. They had no reason to carry on like that. It wasn't having pain that made on weak. It was hiding the fact that things hurt. Duo snorted. How funny the words sounded from him, the joker, the one who hid behind the mask of laughter. Equally funny was how suddenly a mask can shatter. When had it happened? When Hilde died? That sounded about right. The explosion had been so sudden, a miscalculation of power fluxes in the machine they had been building from the scrap. She hadn't even had time to scream. A single piece of metal shot through the air and decapitated her, a clean diagonal cut leaving her right ear and some of her chin still attached to her neck. He'd assumed it had been a closed coffin funeral. He wouldn't have known. He didn't attend. He left the next day to L4, hoping for work. He couldn't stand the site of the scrap yard anymore. Too many memories. When he'd arrived at Quatre's doorstep, the other hardly recognized him. He'd no money to travel with, had been wearing the same clothes for several weeks and his hair was in shambles, like a river of churning rapids. The rich life hadn't been much better though. Quatre fussed and worried over him, assuring himself something was very wrong. Since when did a strait face mean one was depressed or hurt? And oh the questions he had asked. 'How did you get the money, Duo, to travel all the way here?' ,'What happened to you?' ,' Stay as long as you like, Duo, our hospitality is always open to you.' In the end though, it had been the hospitality that had urged the braided boy to leave. Refusing to give into charity, Duo left again with only what he had brought with him: clothes, pride and a shattered spirit. That had been the last time he saw Quatre, or any other ex-Gundam pilot. He feared the questions they'd ask. It was months later that he found his second chance at life, till he found someone who would accept him. Before that he had tried to get a job, tried to start over again. In times of peace, no one wanted an ex-war pilot. Shuttle corporations found his skills more than adequate but feared his present unemployment and lack of housing stability. The majority of his schooling had been in the field of ministry but the destroyer of lives and self-acclaimed Shinigami could find no church that would accept him. No studio would even listen to his vocal recordings, which had been made with what precious little money he had in pure desperation. Then there was James. He could still remember they day they'd crossed paths. Duo'd been starving and living in an ally with a stray cat as his only companion.   
  
[Flash Back]  
  
"Duo Maxwell?"  
  
Duo looked up, his face sunken and eyes dead. Two clear sea colored eyes peered warmly behind transparent half-glasses tipped down the bridge of his nose.  
  
"Who the hell are you?"  
  
"My name's James. James Opi. You are Duo Maxwell, correct?"  
  
Having lost any semblance of manners, Duo snapped at him, "What's it to you?"  
  
James hadn't even flinched. He smiled and reached out a hand to him, "I'm honored to meet you. I've read all about your heroic actions in the war."  
  
Dead laughter echoed off the brick walls, "Honored? You see me now as a dying street brat in the middle of an overpopulated colony and you feel honored?" his face cracked into a grim smile, "What kind of psycho are you?"  
  
The conversation hadn't gotten much better. James had offered to buy Duo dinner, an offer that was flatly refused. He tried to coax him into meeting some of his associates but Duo shook his head.  
  
"I'm just waiting here to die, buddy. Just keep walking like all the others do. I don't want your charity."  
  
James nodded, "I understand completely. A man, even one laying in the gutter, has his pride. I don't mean to insult you. I just wandered if perhaps in your voyages you ever thought about the prospect of becoming a hired assassin."  
  
Violet gems glared, "I'm tired of killing."  
  
"I understand, "At this point, James had sat down next to him on the filthy ground, being dressed in a fine blue suit, "But when a father doesn't come home to his family because of an act or terrorism and you had the opportunity to stop it, does it make you any less of a killer?" James took out a business card, completely white on both sides with blue writing in the middle of what appeared to be the front side. "It may be killing, but when things come down to ending one life gone bad to save one life still pure, the end justifies the deed, don't you agree?"  
  
Duo hadn't made a noise or movement, afraid either would answer the strangers question. Yes, it was still killing.... But the way James explained it made everything seem... right.  
  
"Headquarters."  
  
Duo looked at him, puzzled.  
  
"For secrecy measures, we are known only as Headquarters. All missions come through the mainframe and are researched to make sure all reasoning behind the orders are justified and true. We've taken every precaution not to be tainted by personal grudges or beliefs. I believe you would be a valuable asset to us, Duo Maxwell." James stood and wiped the grime from his suit, "We can all profit from this, Duo. Headquarters could use someone of your skill and you could use something more than what you've got here in this ally. The offer remains eternally open. I do hope I see you again. Best of luck to you." James waved cheerfully and walked away.  
  
Maybe it was desperation. Maybe it was his will to survive. Maybe he believed in what James had said. If the target was evil, then perhaps in this case two wrongs could make a right. The next day, Duo stood at the steps of Headquarters, ready to live once again.  
  
[End Flashback]  
  
Duo smirked as he parked the car. Like the phoenix from the ashes, so has Shinigami been reborn.  
  
The hotel wasn't first class but it was finer than some of the dumps he'd stayed in at other times of employment. The bellhop kindly assisted him to his room even though the single bag was easy enough for just the one of them to carry. With a permafrost smile and a bow, he was gone and Duo was free to unwind. Long trips sucked. It didn't matter if the hardest thing you had to do during the whole ordeal was sit back and remain occupied, after you got to your room, you were exhausted. His bag was unpacked easily enough. One lap top which he set up on the bedside table, two pants and two shirts of uniform black, socks and underwear; all manufactured to be durable and well fitted to his body. He smirked again, lifting up the pair of pants he'd kept from his prior mission. Okay, so he really liked them. Even an assassin has got to have style. He laid them out across the back of a chair to keep them separated from his mission clothes. He'd love for Heero to see him in them. This was, after all, operation find Heero Yuy. A side course in seduction couldn't hurt anything. Who was he kidding? Heero'd kick his ass for sure.  
  
With a resigned sigh, he flipped the on switch to his laptop. If Heero didn't want him then, what made Duo think he'd want him now? The ache in his heart steadily grew until he felt as though the complimentary peanuts were going to make a return flight. He fell to his knees, broken heart forgotten in the mindless pain filling him. He flung his tank top off and pulled the left blue-violet sleeve down. The ugly markings on his arms were bulging and spreading, sending waves of unimaginable pain through his entire body. Slowly it began to fade, the markings quieting and finally ceasing any strange movement. Duo panted for breath, beads of perspiration flowing over his taunt face. That was the second time since the accident with the black disk. The first time he'd thought someone had poisoned his tea, the markings behavior only the resulting hallucinations to whatever drug he'd been slipped. But it was too real to be a hallucination. Far too real.. and painful. He slowly rose to his bed and crashed down upon it. If it was a drug, it had to be the mother of them all. Nothing had that kind of potency. He body still cringed in the aftermath of the ordeal. He knew from his one prior experience that there was only one way to escape the resulting questions, worries and pain. Sleep. And within a very short couple of minutes, blissful unconsciousness claimed him in effortless black.  



	4. Four

Duo slept for a good part of the day. Having arrived on a morning shuttle, the sun was still rather bright when the phone rang, causing the sleeping assassin to stir to consciousness. His arm didn't hurt anymore but the disdainfully sharp wrong feeling he had settled in its place. He picked the phone from the bedside table and placed the receiver to his head, half of which was still embedded in the pillow.  
  
"Speak."  
  
"Duo?"  
  
Relena.... Duo sat up immediately though groggily as well. He wiped his sweaty brow with the palm of his hand, "Present, ojou-san."  
  
"Duo, you were supposed to contact me upon arrival. I've been worried that perhaps they'd gotten you too."  
  
"Worried about me?" Duo snickered, "Considering I'm gonna kill you, that doesn't make for a very intelligent concern."  
  
"Considering you may be the only one who can find Heero, I find your safety to be the utmost of importance, next to you actually completing this mission."  
  
Duo took pause, "There's always another assassin out there who can do the job."  
  
"But I don't trust them. I know you and Heero are.. or at least you were, good friends. You wouldn't do anything to jeopardize his safety. There is more hope in me knowing a friend of his is looking for him. More hope he'll come back to me alive."  
  
"Baka," Duo snorted, "Look, I've more pressing maters to attend to. Unless you've got something more to say, I think it's time to say sayonara."  
  
Relena clicked her tongue, "Actually, there was something. I remember who sent Heero the disk."  
  
Hope, strong and sure, rose within Duo's being, "The black disk? Who? Are you sure you remember correctly?"  
  
"Yes. I heard the name on the news this evening. I didn't realize he'd been corresponding with someone of such importance on the Earth."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Lady Kyldre."  
  
"What?" Duo yawned despite the seriousness the conversation had taken, "What would Miss Anti-evolution want with the guy who mastered the Zero System?  
  
"I don't know." Relena admitted, "I thought perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he was a Gundam pilot. The Gundams are the greatest technological advancement in resent history and are developmental war machines, both of which the WBA oppose. Since Lady Kyldre is the leader of WBA.. I thought maybe-"  
  
"You thought nothing." Duo intervened, "Had you been thinking you would have realized that none of the other EX-Gundam pilots have been kidnapped or vanished or whatever. If this were an attack against us pilots then it would have been focused on Quatre. He was our leader during the last battle when we worked together as a team.[1] He also mastered Zero System. To go against Heero and Heero only would be purposeless if the true objective were to dispose of the five of us."  
  
Relena nodded audibly, "I suppose you're right. So why Heero then?"  
  
"Perhaps it's not an attack on him. It could be against you given your distinct possessiveness of him."  
  
"Possessivene-!"  
  
"You know what they say," he implied, interrupting her yet again, "To win the cat you must tag the mouse."  
  
Relena was fuming. He could tell so by the noising breathing and tapping sound of nails on a surface, "Is that your only theory as of yet?"  
  
Duo stood up, stretching out his knotted muscles, "So far. One thing still bothers me though. Is Lady Kyldre is so against technology, why send Heero a diskette? Kind of hypocritical to preach against one thing and go use it when the publics eye is turned," he walked to the fridge and found a basket of fresh-looking fruits left by the previous guest. He took out an orange and began peeling off the skin, "Another thing is, why would she send Heero anything at all? As far as I know, they weren't friends. Not during the war. Have you heard anything about her before this in the past three years?"  
  
"No.. well.. there were the letters."  
  
"The one the disk came with?"  
  
"No. There were seven."  
  
Duo stopped in mid peal, juice trickling down his fingers.   
  
"Seven letters. He.. he started getting them two months ago. It became a weekly thing and a few days after the seventh letter, the disk arrived by special post."  
  
Duo made haste of the remaining bits of peeling, "You sorry bitch..."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?" he asked, trying to keep his temper in check. He didn't need to blow up. She might hang up and of all things that was the least desired of now.  
  
"I didn't think it was that important. Besides, I only just remembered the girls name. Even that information hadn't seemed too important or you wouldn't have left so suddenly." She spat. Apparently, calling someone a bitch was none better than a full out temper tantrum.  
  
"Not important? All right them. Allow me to show you just how unimportant that is." He took his time to suck the flavor out of a segment of orange, letting Relena wait for his explanation. When at last he was satisfied he threw away the remaining slice and began his speech, "Seven letters in the course of a few months. Correct?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So in essence, he expected the replies."  
  
"I suppose s-"  
  
"So Heero knew when a letter was coming, expected it and probably expected the disk too. The disk, being our only lead, came on friendly terms. If that's true then Lady Kyldre has nothing to do with his disappearance. It is more advantageous for us to look to her enemies as suspects." He picked up another slice and did to it the same as he had the first, "Now, in all honesty, I want you to tell me that none of that information is of any importance to my mission."  
  
"I..." Relena began to stutter, 'I'm sorry. I hadn't thought-"  
  
"Nope. You sure didn't." he licked his lips and tossed the uneaten but thoroughly drained slice into the trash, "Not a total loss though. I'd still need to come to Manifest eventually."  
  
"You still think Heero's disk is the same one that mutilated your arm?" Relena asked, happy for a subject change.  
  
Mutilated? And the self-esteem meter goes down... "There's more to it than that but yes. Plus, Lady Kyldre can list off her enemies and I'll have a better idea who exactly I'm looking to target."  
  
"So I guess this is it then. The search is really on."  
  
"You sound displeased." Duo noted with some unintended sarcasm.  
"It's not that I'm not happy. I want Heero back and I'm not afraid to die. I'm just afraid of absolution. What if Heero's dead? I'd rather hope he's alive then know for sure that he's lying lifeless somewhere where no one even cares he's dead."  
  
"Ojou-san," Duo's voice took on a dark and demanding tone, "If you want me to come back and get my fifteen thousands worth, I will. I'm not about to believe he's dead but if you want to go to hell and look for him there for me, I'd be appreciative for the help."  
  
"No.. Duo. Find him. Please."  
  
"No worries, Ojou-san." Duo hung up the phone without a reply.  
  
He waited till nightfall, some ungodly hour when all the working people set down in their beds and were fast asleep and unknowing of what lurked in the shadows. Dressed to kill, quite literally in both senses of the word, Duo exited the hotel and walked stealthily through the alleyways. Perhaps this mission wasn't as stressing or serious as the ones to come but it was required. If he was going to see Lady Kyldre, her convention would be the appropriate place. And if he was going to go to a convention, he needed something a little dressier than leather. The mall and other stores were too well guarded and though no major sweat for the self-proclaimed Shinigami, the dry-cleaners was much easier to break into and offered just as much of a selection on a good night. Considering the anticipation in the crowds during the daylight hours, everyone was intending to attend. A considerable amount of fine tuxedos or evening slacks would be stocked high upon the racks. Easy pickings.   
  
Duo retreated to the shadows with every sound or movement that was not his own. Noisy teens in a high-speed car cursed by with the radio blasting and exhilarating shouts entrapping the night hours. Duo envied them, their carefree life. Most of those kids couldn't have been much younger than himself. Seventeen, perhaps only sixteen years old. At nineteen, Duo should have been enjoying freedom and peace like them. Duo shook his head and clutched the end of his braid. Some things just didn't turn out the way one would hope it would. And all things had a reason, right? Duo nodded, trying to assure himself before he slipped into self-concern and lost focus on the task at hand. Must steal some wealthy bastards suit for tomorrow nights convention, Duo though repeatedly. It worked sometimes.   
  
Just as his senses returned to the present, a frightening realization hit him.  
  
He was no longer alone in the alley.  
  
"Well... what have we got here?"  
  
Duo turned around, eyeing a tall, brutish looking blonde with calico eyes.  
  
"Looks like a little girl." Another boy remarked, this one smaller in stature but much larger round than the other. As Duo watched, four other men materialized out of night cloak. Their eyes were dangerous.  
  
"Some girl. What are ya sweetie? A 1/4 A cup?" the first man snickered.  
  
"Fuck off."  
  
A new comer arched an eyebrow, "That's no chick, that's a guy!" he stated with amusement, "Look at that braid! What kind of fag are you?"  
  
Duo rolled his eyes, "That's original. Know how many times that one come up in a conversation with bastards like you?" he asked cynically.  
  
"Nope. He defiantly is no chick," a man dressed in black and blood red walked forward, circling Duo though the braided teen kept his eyes on his at all times, "So tell me, Braid Boy, got any cash on you?"  
  
Deciding to take the group on with humor rather than bitch till they either got tired or pounded his face in, Duo smiled, "Money? Have you looked at these pants? There's no room for a wallet in these things."  
  
"Is there room enough for me?" a voice from the back asked. The whole group sank into laughter, the danger in their eyes transforming into hunger.  
  
It doesn't take a soldiers training to know when a situations turns from bad to worse. Duo mumbled select curses from every language he could call to mind and began to step backwards.  
  
"Where ya goin', cutie. We just wanna play with ya for a while."  
  
"I know exactly what you want and like hell you're gonna' get it!" Duo shouted. He took out his gun and showed the boys he meant business. Thank Heero for the tips on how to pull weaponry seemingly from nowhere. The men in the alley shrank back, whispered shouts that sounded like 'he's got a gun' echoing from one mouth to another's ear.  
  
"Put that down, sugar. You're outnumbers and..." the snapping of pistol clips and released safety-locks filled the echoing silence. "I'm sorry to say, out gunned."  
  
Violet eyes searched fleetingly for any sign of pedestrian or open window in the buildings beside for a ray of hope. He'd live two years and gone to die in a gutter never resorting to selling himself and like hell he'd let someone take him when everything was finally going in a semi-normal direction.   
  
That was when the first scream of pain shattered the night. One of the men before him fell to his knees, clutching his head and screaming for mercy. The others turned, looking for the new adversary. With a snap, a neck was broken, with a single shot, a burring hole was left in a man's scalp, with a short gasp, a mans throat was crushed. And Duo stood there, armed, and doing nothing to prevent or aid.  
  
One by one the punks fell down dead, their eyes no longer hungry. Instead they held within them the ache of lifelessness.  
  
Duo snapped out of it, suddenly becoming aware that he may be the next to fall to the mysterious savior. He raised his gun but a quaking beneath the skin of his left arm left the rest of his body paralyzed. His index finger could not more on the trigger. His arm was hurting again. Of all times to ache it chose now. Duo fell to his knees, one eye clamped shut while the other desperately searched out the stranger who now sauntered over the befallen punks on the asphalt.   
  
And Heero Yuy became visible. Dressed in customary green tank top and black spandex shorts, he looked no different then he had in the days of way. His tone was stronger if such could be accomplished, and he had grown considerably. But it was still the boy he had known. But similarities ended there. Duo gasped, not only in pain but in horrifying realization. Metal rings around Heero's ankles, caves and wrists emitted strange blue designs over his skin. The more he looked at the blue marking, the more familiar they looked. Over his eyes he wore a blue tinted visor to which a microphone was connected and linked to his ear. Tussled moss green hair adorned the distinctively Japanese face and eyes that looked older than their years. Cobalt pools looked without recognition at Duo, eyeing him as a hunter eyes a beat in the wild.  
  
"Heero?" Duo asked though it was perfectly clear who he was looking at.   
  
Heero spoke not a word to him, preferring to stair as he dipped down to make sure all his victims were in fact dead.  
  
"Heero.. where the hell have you been? What's on your arms and legs?"  
  
Heero turned and walked away.  
  
"Wait, Heero!" Duo scrabbled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his arm, and chased after his slowly retreating friend. "Heero, do you remember me?"  
  
The Japanese teen stopped, looked him over, then continued walking. No answer of confirmation or denial.  
  
"Heero?!" Duo wanted to shake him, slap him, bring him out of whatever trance he was subject to. Something held him back even as he slowly fallowed his friend.  
  
Finally, Heero stopped. He turned around again, this time, with a sad sort of sorrow clearly shown upon his usually solemn face, "Duo...."  
  
Alarms. Sirens. Churning red and blue lights of the authorities. Duo turned his head to look. Yup. They were heading in his direction. Someone must have heard what had happened. Duo didn't know weather to be relieved or angered. Either way, he had to get the hell out of there before they found him and began questioning him.   
  
He turned back to Heero only to realize he'd disappeared again. The cops were growing closer. There was no time to pursue him. Duo cursed again and ran off towards the drycleaners. He had to get that suit still. There was the conference to go to and answers to ascertain.  
  
Either way, the most important information was already his.  
  
Heero Yuy was alive.  
  



	5. Five

At Dawns final twinkling light, the nightlife of Manifest came alive. All talk of the convention doubled this appointed hour as the streets were crowded with the suits and skirts of those who would attend. Even those who were opposed to what the Lady Kyldre stood for had joined those egger for the presentation. And then there were those whose purpose reached much further than curiosity, those with hell's fire in their eyes and Shinigami's cloak upon their shoulders. Those like the braided youth who stepped forth on the crimson carpet and looked though the mingled crowds with an air of indifference. But the eyes on an assassin are never blind to sight. He had seen the Lady upon entry, smiling at his discovery and taking it upon him to float in her general direction not to make his appearance too strange or calculated. Things must be dealt with casually; something Duo was a master of portraying. Casualness, like laughter and smiles, was an easily forced mask and just as difficult to see behind. Unless, like a fool, you thought casual was whistling a merry tune though obviously at fault or planning something.  
  
The Lady Kyldre stood out among the common foke of the city like a stand of gold silk in a tapestry of raven wool. She dipped and bowed with grace though stood tall and mighty like a soldier or commanding officer. She wore about her a sophistication unmatched by few, Relena included. At first glance his first thoughts had been of General Treize and the smooth way the man had spoken and acted, defying any underlying purpose to his deals. Lady Kyldre certainly seemed to hold within her these qualities. Like Treize, her face was kind and beautiful. Her russet eyes were only shades from black and heavily lashed with gold lining adorning her almond eyes. Though rather prominent, her nose was neatly sloped which rounded downward at the end rather than rolling into a perky upturn as Duo's did. Her lips, though thin, seemed made to smile and she effortlessly proved it with each man or woman she came across. By the shade of her skin and he overall appearance, she was defiantly of oriental descent. Ebony tresses fell along her elliptical face with as much grace as she pushed them aside with. Duo could see why she was so well respected. Every man she met his hand she did take and welcome personally, her face never faltering in its smile. If Treize had been a woman, he would have been Lady Kyldre, in this he had no doubt.  
  
Duo brushed through the tightly formed rings and groupings of friends and pushed forward towards the Lady. As if realizing she was being sought after, she paused in mid step and turned to him, taking him in as well as he had done her.  
  
"My Lady." Duo said upon finally standing before her.  
  
She extended her hand, a look of fascination on her face, "I don't believe I've ever had the honor of your acquaintance. Are you new in town?"  
  
"Just came for the convention," Duo lied. "I don't suppose would could speak in private?"  
  
The Lady laughed in a good-natured chuckle, "If you want me to reveal my plans then you'll have to wait with everyone else."  
  
"Lady Kyldre, I need to speak with you on terms a little more important, to me anyway, than whatever anti-technological scheme you've devised."  
  
"Scheme?" she frowned, "Sir, I can assure you what I reveal here is of the utmost importance." She cocked her head to the side slightly, "I know I've seen your face before. What is your name?"  
  
"Duo. Duo Maxwell." As a second thought, he added, "I'm a friend of Heero Yuy's."  
  
At this the Lady's face brightened, "Yuy-san? Isn't it a small world? Is he here this evening? I've meant to ask him about my most resent message."  
  
"You mean the diskette?"  
  
She froze, "How do you know about it? Heero promised me he'd keep it a secret." She looked about to make sure no one was listening in. "Hold on for just one minute." She turned and left Duo standing in the middle of the room. She shortly returned, looking more flustered than she had at her departure, "Fallow me."  
  
Duo nodded and walked at her heals as she lead the way to a black doored room at the other end of a silent hallway. She opened it wide and allowed his entrance before closing it behind them.  
  
"How much did he tell you?" she asked in a hushed tone.  
  
"He didn't tell me anything. Heero vanished the night your disk was received and the disk is the only clue to his disappearance we have."  
  
"Vanished?" she turned and sat in a crimson upholstered chair, "Yuy-san has vanished?"  
  
Duo nodded, taking a seat on the love seat across from her, "Do you think you could identify the disk if I showed it to you?"  
  
She nodded and Duo slipped the black case from the pocket of his 'borrowed' suit. She took it in her hand, turned it over and gave a precise nod. "This is the one I sent him. I'm sure of it. I made this indentation on the side so that if it somehow came into someone else's hands they couldn't claim ownership of the program themselves."  
  
"Program?"  
  
Lady Kyldre pocketed the disk, "Yes. My scheme as you so put it. I've devised the perfect machine. An organic technology."  
  
"Organic technology?" Duo repeated incredulously, "That's impossible. How could something like that exist? And even if it did, how could one maintain it? Not everyone has a green thumb."  
  
The Lady shook her head, "It can and does exist. It is still very much a self-sufficient organism. By replacing artificial intelligence with organic composed apparatuses not only can one detect problems earlier but are easier to fix. And since the organic compounds needed to produce the technology are found only on Earth, preservation for our planet will once again come into perspective."   
  
"So you want to turn technology into plants." Duo asked, "No wonder you have so many opposed to your ideals. What happens to these machines if they contract a virus? Circuitry doesn't die but plants and other living things do."  
  
Lady Kyldre nodded solemnly, "That was a problem before. Essentially, this technology has been available for centuries but by organisizing our technology, we would organisize any viral codes within them. There was no way to purge a system of these diseases and most test machines did, in fact, die. But that threat is gone now. Thanks to the Apotropaic Apparatus."  
  
Duo blinked back his confusion, "The what?"  
  
"Apotropaic Apparatus." She repeated, "It's a system devised to seek out viral strands in the organisized material and destroy it. In essence, the fact that organic life dies works in our favor here. Today, viruses can be deflected but not all are easily destroyed or done so completely for that mater."  
  
Duo's brow knitted in an unfriendly manner, "So your saying the information in that disk is able to turn viruses into living things?"  
  
"Nothing sentient I assure you." She almost laughed, "Simply harmless clustered of waste material."  
  
Duo closed his eyes, "If I show you something, do you promise to tell me the truth?"  
  
She nodded, "Yes. Of course."  
  
Duo unbuttoned his shirt and threw the black jacket and white blouse over the arm of the sofa. He carefully untied the strings to his blue-violet sleeve coat and pulled off the left one, "Did any of the test you ran on your organic machines turn up anything that looked remotely like this?"  
  
Lady Kyldre was off her chair in moments, kneeling before him with her thin fingers tracing the blotches on his skin. They now had spread up most of his upper arm. "How did this happen?" she asked, bewildered.  
  
"I hacked into that disk and was jolted by a serge. This is what was left by it."  
  
Lady Kyldre shook her head and let it hang low, "When we tested the AA, all viral codes were programmed to be distinguishable by color. A dark indigo. Like the marks on your arm."  
  
"Then this is actually a computer virus?"  
  
"The AA has the ability to morph technology into a living organism. I never thought it would be able to develop something like this. I didn't think it would be possible to download any of the information into the human apparatus." She explained, "Maxwell-san, I'm truly sorry. I can not express in enough words the amount of sympathy I feel towards you."  
  
Duo shook his head, "I don't want your sympathy. I just want to know what this will do. It's a virus, right? Will there be any adverse affects?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Is there a way to reverse them?"  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"Is it anything serious?"  
  
With a heaving breath, she look up at him, "You'll die."  
  
Two words, simplistic, common and heavily loaded with all the burdens of the universe.  
  
Lady Kyldre stood and sat back in her chair, "I'll confess that such a problem was discussed once. We thought it improbable, "she explained, "But we were sure of one thing. If a human body was exposed to a technological virus, there could be no cure. I'm sorry, Maxwell-san. We never dreamed it could actually happen."  
  
Duo nodded, pushing back his fears and inner voice that wished to both materialize and kick the woman's ass for creating the damned program responsible. "You'll call off the convention then?"  
  
"Never." She shook her head violently, "I've worked to hard."  
  
"How many people have to die before you'll realize the danger your AA is to man kind?"  
  
"It's a fluke. It can be fixed in time for production!" she snapped. "What do a few mortal lives mean anyway? The Earth is our mother. Without it we all die. The end justifies the means. The end always justifies the means!" she nearly screamed.  
  
Duo took it all back. This woman was nothing like General Treize. Treize at least believed in the importance of people.  
  
"Lady Kyldre, I came here to learn of your enemies. I was sure they had something to do with Heero's disappearance. I see now that any enemy of yours is but an ally to me. I do however want to know one more thing before I go." Duo stood, pulling the sleeve coat back on, "What was it that you and Heero spoke about in your letters? Why Heero in the first place? Why not someone else?"  
  
"Cause Yuy-san loves the Earth." She stated simply, "And it is a shared belief that that which ones loves should be protected by any means."  
  
"Pardon me for being critical but love is not even a word I believe the guy possesses in his vocabulary." Duo picked his jacket and blouse from the sofa's arm and opened the door.  
  
"Maxwell-san."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
Lady Kyldre put her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry. You were once a fighter too though, I believe. It's in your eyes. You must know what it is to know what you are doing is for the greater good only to be stubbornly brushed into the shadows." She nodded at her own words, as if assured by their meaning, "Yes, I can see you now. A great fighter. Perhaps even a Gundam pilot. Is that how you met him?"  
  
"Shut up," Duo spat venomously.  
  
"You're looking for him. Why?"  
  
"It's no longer of your concern."  
  
"My concern lies with all of humanity." She kept her face emotionless, "Or I wouldn't be doing this."  
  
Duo slammed the door shut and marched over to her, leaning down till his nose was inches from hers, "Is that what you call this? Concern for humanity? Your ready to fucking kill everybody and that's supposed to be out of concern?"  
  
"Your perspective is far too small."  
  
"So is yours, Lady!" he shouted, "So is yours! Your damn right I was a soldier in the war and like hell I'm going to let everything I risked my life for perish cause of your misguided concern! Heero couldn't have known what was really going on here. He'd have never worked with someone as corrupted as you."  
  
"Corruption is in the eye of the beholder."  
  
"So is all that is justified." Duo opened the door again and left this time, his words hanging in the air like a lead pendulum. But his thoughts weight far more.  
  
Die? I'm going to die? he thought over and over again. It's impossible. It was just a power serge or something. She's wrong. She has to be.  
  
As if to prove him wrong, his arm began to spasm as it had in the hotel and alley. "No.. not now. Please no.."  
  
He heard screaming and for a moment feared it was his own. But when one scream multiplied into a dozen and then from that to hundreds, he was quickly assured something else was wrong entirely. With heavy steps he stumbled into the audience hall. People were shrieking in near hysteria, running to the sides of the room like the waters of the Dead Sea. And Moses walked in the valley left behind. Only Moses walked not with a staff or the grace of god upon him. He wore black spandex shorts, unattended moss green hair and odd metal gadgets and wires attached to his arms and legs. Heero. The blue markings shone as brightly in the lit room as they had in the night only now, Duo found he had clear voidance enough to identify the strange marks. Circuitry. Heero's skin was overlaid with circuitry. Duo gasped at realization.  
  
"Heero!"  
  
The said teen looked in his direction, eyes narrowing, "Duo."  
  
"Heero.. what happened to you?" Duo asked, stepping forward thought sweating profusely at the strain caused by fighting his infection. He wouldn't scream and he wouldn't faint. Not this time. He'd hold his ground in front of Heero. He always had and he wasn't about to appear weak in those cobalt gems now.  
  
"Yuy-san!"  
  
Both turned to see Lady Kyldre step out of the black room.  
  
What happened next moved too quickly for anyone to truly remember most of the details. On minute, Lady Kyldre had been had been standing in the hall, the next she was lying on the floor a few feet away from where she had been standing Duo lying on the ground in a motionless heap. Blood seeped from the exposed flesh of his abdomen from a circular wound penetrating deep within. A bullet shot. And Heero was holding the gun.  
  
Lady Kyldre was speechless. How could the fair Yuy-san shoot at her? And why had the one who only moment before said he'd ally himself with her enemies push her aside when the bullet sailed her way?  
  
If her face was a sea of confusion, Heero's was an ocean. He dropped the gun from his hand and watched it fall to the ground with a thick thump. "...Duo...?"  
  
But Duo could not answer him.   
  
Lady Kyldre stood, balancing herself against a wall, "You killed him..."  
  
"He's not dead." Heero said aloud, stooping down to confirm his beliefs. Duo had a pulse, thready as it was. And he was breathing though labored and in suffered heaves.  
  
"If he's not dead then it's best to let him die." She spat.  
  
Heero paid her no heed. He wrapped his arms around the inert form and stood, carrying Duo as a knight would carry his damsel.   
  
"Leave him!" the Lady shouted.  
  
Heero cast her a dangerious glair, "Optima quaeque ies mireris mortalibus aevi prima fugit; subeunt morbid tristisque serectus et labor et durae repit inclementai mortis."  
  
Though completely confused as to what any of it meant, the tone of which he said it and the steady flames in his eyes left only one image in mind. That of fear. Immense, foreboding fear.  
  
And he left. No one stopped him. Too many were afraid. He walked up the crimson carpet, not caring that mortal red was running down his legs and pooling at the floor. He seemed to care about nothing at all. A machine.   
  
In the far reached of Duo's consciousness, a single thought replayed.  
  
Heero Yuy had become part machine. Perhaps the best part of him had been sacrificed for such a change, his heart and soul.   
  
Heero had lost his humanity.  
  
The light of hope for love dwindled to a spark upon the candle of chance.  



	6. Six

When Duo awoke, it was to the soft throaty snores that whistled in his ear and the humming of electricity. His violet eyes blinked open slowly, adjusting to the lights as well as they could. What he awoke to was far different from whatever it was he had been expecting. Large lamps of harsh white light focused directly over him, though hung high on the huge ceiling. The walls, floor, everything, seemed to glitter pristine white. The atmosphere was like that of a hospital, you weren't sure what was going on but you knew it was important. Huge machines, computers ranging from obvious input terminals to monitors the size of the televised billboards of the century, stood like Titans over everything else. It was like being in a laboratory, or perhaps even some diabolical secret layer. There was nothing cheerful or hopeful in these surrounding and Duo began to realize whatever trouble he had been in before was undoubtedly smaller compared to whatever the hell he'd gotten himself into now. Only Heero was with him now. Of course, given the facts, that might not have been a good thing either.   
  
Duo turned his head to the side and received a face full of moss green hair. Heero lay sleeping beside him, both lying on a raise platform of solid steel, which wasn't exactly comfortable, but was obviously made in the purpose of being a bed. Duo raised his hand and swept the hair from his face as well as Heero's revealing two lightly closed eyes and pouting lips on a well aged face. Sure, it'd only been three years, but three years could change one so much, especially considering the age they had been. If Heero had had the perfection of an angel back then, he only looked more divine now, like some mythological god. He'd filled out rather well over the years, still retaining that 'damn too skinny' look while assortments of muscles Duo hadn't even known existed stood prominent from under the tight tanned shin. But his arms and legs...   
  
Duo picked Heero's hand up from his side and held it in front of him. The blue circuitry almost glowed, even in the bright light of the room. It stretched out from his fingertips up most of his forearm. The only other devise on it was the metal ring around the wrist which was etched and carved into, tiny rivers of wire spiraling around in patters.  
  
"What the hell did they do to you...?"  
  
Suddenly, Duo remembered what exactly Heero had done to him. Duo sat up and glanced at his stomach. Any sign of the gunshot wound was gone. Not even a scar remained. Duo shook his head. He could remember it all to clearly for it to have been a dream. But here he was, with Heero, in some strange place, and his wound was gone.  
  
"Interesting technology, hm?"  
  
Duo looked up, startled. He hadn't realized anyone else was there.   
  
Twin pools of sea green flashed behind blue tinted half framed glasses.   
  
"James!" Duo shouted happily though with curiosity and suspicion falling over his face, "What are you doing here? I thought you had a mission and wouldn't be available for a while. I didn't expect you to bail my ass out again so soon." He added with a half smirk.  
  
James returned it with a his hands waving about to everything in the room, "This is my mission, Duo." He walked over to the table Duo was sitting up on and ran his finger down the taunt stomach, "They healed you up nicely. I'm glad to see you're feeling better, Duo."  
  
"Who healed me? Where the hell are we? Do you know what happened to Heero?" Duo asked in rapid succession.  
  
James motioned to the computer in the room, "The Creator healed you, Duo. It was his will that you live and so you do. The Creator is a benevolent master, is he not?" His voice was strung with pride and admiration.  
  
"Master? James, you're freaking me out here. That's a computer."  
  
"So it this," James jabbed Duo's stomach with his index finger, "Veins and nerves are no different to wires and circuits. It's part of our new awakening, Duo. The Creator can do anything. He can repair your skin and internal organs by simply downloading the plans into your system. He can resurrect the dead by his will alone. The Creator will lead us to the future!"  
  
Duo blinked back his horror, "James, you've gone fucking crazy!"  
  
James laughed, "It's not insanity, Duo. The Creator will spread his power through the universe and we will never fear again. There will be no war, no unhappiness, no poverty. The Creator will solve everything!" he gazed deep into Duo's eyes, "You understand, don't you, Duo? You came from poverty, unhappiness and war. You understand the pain. Don't you want people to be happy again, Duo?"  
  
"You're speaking of a utopia that doesn't exist." Duo's head was spinning. Perhaps he was taking it just a bit to fast since his recovery. "I'd love to see a world without the negative prospects but the fact is that there is no good without evil. Goodness comes from opposing what's wrong."  
  
"There is no evil in the world, Duo," James spoke, "Only two sides to the same argument. The Creator is an unbiased leader who can solve everything. Justice, rather than favor, will govern us. The Creator will-"  
  
"It's a stupid computer, James! What the hell is wrong with you?"  
  
James glared at him, "I don't understand why you are so opposed to your leader. Of all people I thought you would understand what we do here."  
  
"Like what you did to Heero?" Duo asked, "Did the Creator do this to him as well?"  
  
"He had to be taken care of." James said nonchalantly, "All those associated with Lady Kyldre must be destroyed, or controlled. We thought it in our best interest to control him, wield him, use him as our shield and sword against the Lady."  
  
"Is this about the new organic technology?"  
  
James shook his head, "No. And it's not exactly new, Duo. Our master was the first to become organisized. That was years ago. I originally created the technology, you see, and the creator was my first test subject. Now look at him! Perfect! Benevolent! Almost god like. No, this isn't about organisizing. It's about the AA."  
  
Duo instinctively held his left arm, "What risk does the AA put you in? It was created to protect against viruses."  
  
"Is that what she's preaching?" James howled, "It's a direct attack against the Creator! I confiscated that disk from Heero and found that it was in fact a program devised to input a distinct control code into the Creator which would destroy him!"  
  
Something snapped in place. Duo's eyes grew wide as saucers as understanding fell upon him, "You... you kidnapped Heero? And you took the disk? So that retrieval mission for the disk was a-"  
  
"Set up. Yes. The Creator had plans of his own. If Lady Kyldre wanted to destroy him, he'd destroy her and her followers. But he needed a test subject to make sure his modifications worked."  
  
"Me..." Duo's lips pulled into a sneer, "You fucking traitor! I trusted you!"  
  
James smiled, "One sacrifice for so much happiness, Duo. You came from nothing and you will return to nothing. Meanwhile, the whole universe will fall under the Creators control and we will enter uncompromisable peace." He paused and snickered a bit to himself, "Apotropaic Apparatus. How ironic. It means a complex mechanism to ward off evil. Evil is in the eyes of the beholder though and now, it is the Creator thought which all eyes see."  
  
"Not if I destroy it."  
  
"Would you?" James asked, "Heero would protect the Creator with his life. Would you kill Heero to delay the inevitable? For trust me, one day technology will be the governmental leader."  
  
"Not while I'm alive."  
  
"And how much longer will that be? Hm? You know that virus on your arm is killing you as we speak. Slowly, painfully, agonizingly. I can't wait till the Lady is infected."  
  
"If you knew I was going to die, why did you heal me?"  
  
James shrugged, "We know the AA modifications work now. I suppose there was really no need. Perhaps the Creator wishes to wait out the viral infection and see its effectiveness."  
  
"I won't be your guinea pig!" Duo tried to jump off the table and strangle James but did little more than fall into him. James wrapped his arms around Duo like a brother, strong and warm.  
  
He spoke in a soft voice, "Duo... I didn't want this to happen. But the Creator willed it and I must fallow the Creator's orders... despite any personal feelings I have."  
  
"You said you created it. Since when did the creation rule the creator?"  
  
"Since the beginning of time, Duo. Since we destroyed our gods." James lifted an exhausted Duo back onto the steel table, "What I'm doing is for the good of humanity, Duo."  
  
"Funny, that's what Lady Kyldre believes as well."  
  
James pushed Duo into a laying position and watched as sleep claimed his overloaded senses.  
  
The blue haired man sighed as he walked away, "Sleep well, Duo. And welcome to Headquarters."  
  
  



	7. Seven

When Duo awoke the second time, the passing conversation seemed like a dream. Or, more appropriately, a nightmare. His hand traced towards the invisible gunshot wound and still encountered nothing. Perhaps everything, from the black disk to the mission, had been a dream. But the warm body beside his own denied that fact. Duo turned and looked again at Heero whose eyes were now open and staring at him.  
  
"Ohiyo, Heero." Duo uttered in a hushed whisper. The huge ceilings magnified it well enough that he may as well shouted. Of course, god only knew how loud a sound that would have made.  
  
Heero made no attempt to answer him. He slid off that table and walked away, the metal rings in his feet clicking, the single gear churning soundlessly as his feet moved.   
  
"Heero... where are you going?"  
  
He paused in mid step, turned around and with little to no emotion in his face or voice, replied, "You're awake. You'll need food."  
  
The braided youth blinked a few times while Heero continued walking. His eyes, Duo noticed, were not as they once were. After secretly pining over the boy, Duo had spent a good amount of time gazing into those Prussian orbs of light and life. His eyes had been his form of communication at times, and his only expression of emotion. Though still as blue as the sea after a storm, the pure emotion in them rocked Duo to the core. Those eyes belonged to a lost child, not a conditioned soldier. They pleaded with him to help him find whatever it was he was missing. They were the eyes of a prisoner, the eyes of a caged animal, they were the eyes of a distressed being but they were not Heero Yuy's eyes. Whatever those bastards had done to him, they hadn't destroyed his humanity, merely controlled it. For that, Duo was grateful but for the naked torment shown clear in his stare, he was frightened.  
  
Heero came back with a plate full of ration bars of assorted flavors. Not that it mattered though. One overly processed, purified and nutrition filled bar was the same as the next. Duo gratefully took one, peeled the foil from it and ate. Heero watched him for a moment before content to do the same.  
  
"It's.. uh.. been a while.. huh?" Duo asked, afraid of the silence.  
  
Heero looked up at him again and nodded, "Two years."  
  
"Three," Duo corrected.   
  
"Two," Heero took a bite, swallowed, and continued, "You were on L3c. You had been singing at a bar."  
  
Duo blinked back his surprise, "You... you were there? Why didn't you say hello?"  
  
"You looked like you had everything you needed. I didn't want to bring anything unwanted from your past back into your future."   
  
"Your friendship has never been unwanted, Heero."  
  
Heero hung his head, fighting against some internal battle, Memories... it can't hide them from me entirely.. these are mine. "You were singing the same song at the bar I heard you sing while you showered back in the war. It always made me feel guilty."  
  
"Guilty?" Duo shook his head, "Heero... I.. I don't remember the song. Are you su-"  
  
"What did I ever do to you," Heero sang, "That you should treat me this way. Is it really such a crime for an angel to speak its mind? In time I'll try to shed some light. If I were a big boy, I wouldn't cry. But since I'm not a big boy I have to cry."   
  
That's the funny thing about memories. Sometimes, despite the years between, they come back as clear as the present.  
  
Duo nodded his head to an imaginary beat in his head and joined Heero in the second verse, amazed at how well the two voices seemed to meld, "What did I ever do so wrong that you should cast me from grace? Though I love to roué in hell, here, how I miss the taste of heaven, it's soft and cool and dense. If I were a big boy, I wouldn't cry. But since I'm not a big boy, I have to close my eyes a picture what it's like."  
  
Duo looked up to see a tear rolling down Heero's face.  
  
"Heero?" he asked in concern.  
  
Heero shook his head, "I can almost fight it, Duo. The Creator. Almost, when I remember what I was. But it still makes me do things... and I don't want to hurt you anymore."  
  
Duo cupped Heero's face in his hands, "You've never hurt me, Heero. Don't cry."  
  
"Then why the song?" Heero asked. His own hands had found there way to Duo's braid and now clung to it tightly, fingers intertwining with the strong strands of chestnut gold.  
  
"I only sang it cause I liked the tune. A song has different meanings for everyone. What did you hear in it?"  
  
"That I've been a bastard for no reason towards you. You were my... first friend." Heero could feel the circuitry reacting to his body chemistry, willing him to move away, stop talking, stop memories and emotions. It was a strong pull. Heero's fingers dug even further into the braid, feeling it was his only tie to control over himself.  
  
Duo was smiling, unknowing of the internal struggle between man and machine, "You were my first friend to survive for so long. Not that your track record hasn't been littered with attempts of death. How 'bout you and me go out to eat at this nice restaurant by my hotel and catch up on times some day?"  
  
Heero nodded, "It's a date."  
  
Duo began to blush despite the visible efforts he was making to stop or hide the fact. Heero wanted to kiss the rosy cheeks but blue flames seemed to roar at his wishes. It was not in the Creators will to allow it.   
  
"Duo, you have to get out of here... it's dangerous..."  
  
Duo shook his head, "No. I'm not leaving here without you. I came all the way to Manifest to find you and I'm not going anywhere now."  
  
"You came all this way for me?" Heero asked.  
  
Duo's blush deepened and the braided teen scowled at his reaction, "Yeah, I did. Relena hired me."  
  
"Oh.."  
  
"It's not like I wouldn't have if she hadn't hired me too! She kept the fact hidden that you were missing." Duo said in haste. He was rewarded with a smile, which finished off his full body blush.   
  
Heero's smile only grew before the taunt expression of effort crossed his face, "I can't hold the programming back much longer, Duo. He'll send me after you but if you go now you've got a good chance to escape."  
  
"Heero, I wo-"  
  
Heero used his free hand to quiet the braided youth. Detaching himself from the braid, he pulled disk from his shorts and put it in Duo's hand, "Take this."  
  
"I've had enough with strange disks, Heero." Duo commented, trying to hand it back.  
  
"It'll explain everything, Duo. I typed out everything I could while I was able to hold back the Creators will. Trust me and go. Please, Duo." Heero's eyes were clamped shut, his hands releasing him and clutching at the metal rings, "Damnit, Duo, go!"  
  
Duo stood and ran, the disk held tightly in his hand. Before long he could hear footsteps coming up behind him, the clicking of metal and gear echoing in the near silence.  
  
I'm sorry, Heero. I'll find a way to get you free. he thought as he pulled all the speed he could in his retreat. The white lights and machinery never changed with every corner he turned. Any exit seemed lost in the midst of it all. He had to get out for Heero though. Duo spied a window at the top of one of the large computers. Using levers and several outcrops, Duo climbed to the top of the machine and slid toward the exit. Heero wasn't slow though. Immediately he had seen Duo's retreating form and had perused, standing now directly behind him.  
  
"Duo..."  
  
He turned, unable to ignore the commanding voice.  
  
"Duo...Omea o korosu."  
  
Heero leapt after him. Duo hadn't time to react. The force of impact sent Duo stumbling backwards and finally, through the sounds of breaking glass, he fell. Fell to the ground with a loud thump and crack as the crates below gave way under his body. Heero peered down at him from the broken window with a looked of indifference. When the body remained still he turned away, satisfied. The Creator had wanted him alive but it could not allow the position of Headquarters to be known. It didn't really matter anymore. The modifications to AA were a success. The end was near and so was the beginning.  
**  
  
It was late at night when Duo finally came through the door of his hotel room. He was bruised but otherwise all right despite the headache and deep angst filling him. Hitting the crates so hard had knocking him unconscious. Duo prayed his thanks to whatever gods still lived that Heero-NO-the Creator had left his for dead. Now, with the disk in his possession as well as knowledge of where Headquarters was located, Duo felt the heavy anticipation of battle settle over him. He sat down next to his laptop and inserted Heero's disk, weary as he did so. When nothing unexpected happened, Duo opened the only file within it and sat back as it loaded and displayed itself.  
  
  
If you've found this disk then I pray it was in time to correct our mistakes. My name is Heero Yuy. I was, until recently, employed by Relena Peacecraft of Sanq as Head of International Security. While in this position, I received a letter from Lady Kyldre of the WBA, World Beautification Association. She told me of her new findings in technology and asked if I was familiar with a technique called organisizing. Organisizing incorporates plant DNA with the technical apparatus. In resent studies, though a successful accomplishment, viruses were the main cause of concern. Our first few correspondences were based solely on he mechanics of organisizing. It wasn't until later that she revealed her discovery, the Apotropaic Apparatus (AA) which is responsible for detecting and destroying computer viruses. She also mentioned James Opi. James is a current member of Relena's circle of informants. Though good-natured, he has a rather mysterious nature. Lady Kyldre told me of his own developmental stages in organisizing and of the Creator, a mega-computer which is the first recorded success. From there she went on to tell me about the programming of this computer. James had created a machine which would unbiasedly judge humans and settle disputes easily and bloodlessly in these times when protecting peace is of the utmost concern. While harmless in theory, the machine had begun to make judgments based on its own beliefs, developing it's own intelligence. It seemed, to the Lady, that the Creator had had become a menace to society. Rumors wound there way to her ears that this computer had taken control over James Opi and now plotted the destruction of man kind, finding humans to be too weak to properly rule this planet. I wish I had believed her then. Only now do I know how true these rumors were. After weeks more of letters, she asked me to test run her AA, afraid any actions taken in Manifest would cause suspicion or ruin the surprise she had in store for a convention she would be holding in light of her discovery. James, being a normal face in the crowds in the palace, had somehow discovered what Lady Kyldre and I were discussing and that a disk would be arriving. No sooner had I gotten to my quarters and input the disk had I been struck down. From that point, all I can remember is the lasting image of a completely different program on the screen. Lady Kyldre, it seems, had not only given me the AA, but a program to destroy the Creator. From then on, it is black. My most resent of memories are of James injecting me with some blue liquid and having metal rings drilled into my legs and arms. They're purpose, as I have come to find out, is to continually keep my circuitry running. This 'circuitry' is no more than organic computer programs linking me to the Creators will. It is of my belief that some humans will be spared to keep these super-computers fully functional. The location of the black disk sent to me is unknown but it is my new mission to find it. Within it lays a disease which will kill mankind if released nation wide. I was not and have not been able to warn Lady Kyldre of the modifications made to this disk. I pray she finds out before the damage is done, for the words sake. In the meantime, I fight the Creator's will, hoping to be able to destroy it. Please take this disk to Lady Kyldre before it's too late.  
  
-HY  
  
"Then we shall meet once again, Lady Kyldre." Duo vowed as he shut off his computer and grabbed the disk. He'd leave now. There was no time to loose, not if he was going to save Heero. They had a date to keep and like hell he'd let Heero out of this obligation.  
**  
  
James slapped Heero across the face with a scowl on his face. "You let him go. You knew he wasn't dead."  
  
"He wasn't moving," Heero countered, "My progr-"  
  
"Your program had little to do with it! I know you've been testing our master!" He readjusted his blue tinted glasses, "You'll de disciplined later. It's time."  
  
Heero fought internally against the hold on him, "Time for what?" he asked in his own voice.  
  
"It's time for the fall of humanity, Heero. But you and I will be spared."  
  
"It is the Creators will." He chimed, unable to take complete control over himself.   
  
James smiled, "Yes, Heero, it is."  
  
He walked around Heero for a moment, eyeing him, "I don't see what they see in you, Heero. Do you know how hard it has been, contending with you on both fields? In Relena's office I am no more than a friend. I wish to be so much more to her. But she wants only you. And then there's Duo. Have you any idea how long I've been dreaming of settling over that firm body and making him writhe in pleasure? But even in my fantasies, both of them call your name at night. What makes you so damn desirable, Heero?"   
  
James eyed him in distaste, "I can't see it. Is it in here?" he pointed to Heero's head, "I think not. A soldier knows love is illogical." He moved his finger lower, "What about here? Your heart. Do you even have one, Heero? Perhaps there is no reason. They say love is a disease. Catch it once and the lingering effects become your protection against new ones." He moved his hand lover and with all the anger that seethed within him, struck Heero in the groin.  
  
Heero buckled and fell to his knees, coughing and sputtering obscenities.  
  
"Doesn't matter anymore. They're both as good as dead. Relena will die when Lady Kyldre reveals her AA and Duo is already so far along in his infection I estimate maybe a few days till he finally succumbs and dies." James kneeled down so his face was inches from Heero's, "Do you know how much I wanted you to watch him die? I wanted to break you and hurt you like your possession over him had hurt me. Maybe I still can though. You still hope that this can all be stopped, don't you?" James nodded as he peered into Heero's eyes, "I see you do. You can't hide it. How does it feel to know that even if the world survives, Duo won't?"  
  
Heero bit his lip as the pain began to fade in his groin but escalate in his soul, "You can fight it too, James. The Creator doesn't have to control you. You know this isn't really what you want. You're not this cruel."  
  
A flicker of remembrance crossed James's face but vanished as soon as if appeared. "He tried to before, Heero. But James is mine now. Completely. As you will be."  
  
The words, though spoken from James's own lips, were understood to be those of the Creator.  
  
Heero clamped his eyes shut as the controlling power once again settled over him.  
  
"As I will be, Master."  



	8. Eight

When the unexpected blur of black, blue-violet and chestnut swarmed into the regal office of Lady Kyldre, the two men standing guard had little time to react. With two bullets, each was on the ground, seizing their bleeding knees or shoulders and holding in tears which threatened to spill from pain clenched eyes. Another shot from the silver pistol sent a bullet in the Lady's direction, the lead weight splintering into the wood backing of the chair and sending pieces of oak in all directions. A single piece caught her across the face, a thin line of welling blood oozing from otherwise unmarked skin.  
  
"Your alive..." she remarked, eyeing Duo in little surprise, despite his abrupt entry.  
  
"Send your men away, Kyldre." He ordered her with intensity flaming behind amethyst pools.  
  
"Do you mean to kill me, Maxwell-san?"  
  
"If I were here to kill you you'd be dead already."  
  
Sensing the truth integrity his words, Lady Kyldre waved her guards away. Though bound by code to fallow her instructions, they left behind their warnings to he unwise position she left herself in.  
  
"Don't worry about me," she consoled then, "He's right. A professional killer such as himself would not have acted so boldly if he meant to murder me. Attend to yourselves."  
  
They bowed and left, shutting the great doors behind them and closing off the rest of the world to the discussion within.  
  
"So you know." Duo pointed out.  
  
"Your profession?" Kyldre whipped away at the blood on her face, "I had a background check done on you after you saved my life. A very interesting young man... no record of birth or life at all till the approximated age of eight or seven, survivor of the L2 plague only to live to see the Maxwell Church Massacre destroying the Maxwell church which it was named for and any semblance of a normal life. From there the nameless child became a member of the sweepers group and then was given a Gundam to fight in the war of AC 195. It's no wonder your such a bitter young man today."  
  
Duo chuckled darkly, "Nothing you know has anything to do with what I am today." He remarked, digging into his pocket and producing a disk, "I brought a message from Heero."  
  
"You do so in a rather violent manner," she took the cased object and looked over it with a keen eye, "Heero tried to kill me yesterday. What makes you or me sure that this isn't an attempt at my life again? Perhaps an intentional back-load of viral codes like what happened to you."  
  
Duo shook his head, "I read over it myself. You've got my word that it's safe."  
  
"The word of Duo Maxwell or the assassin who stand before me?"  
  
With great deliberation, Duo turned to stair at her fully in the eyes, "Who exactly have you been calling on for information about me?"  
  
"Relena Peacecraft-sama."  
  
Duo cursed and kept the half smile hidden, "Then perhaps, you should take my word as an assassin. Relena was never fond of me. No secret there. Did she tell you I was crazy? That I was a loud mouth moron unfit for the battle field?"  
  
Lady Kyldre shook her head, "Not at all. She told me you were very kind to her and brought out the best in Heero when even her own attempts at opening him to the world around him failed." She inserted the disk and ran a viral check for safe measure, "You do wrong to judge her so harshly. She does think well of you."  
  
Duo shook his head, gaping at the unfeasible story the Lady had strung, "Relena said those thing about me?" he scratched the back of his head in confusion, "I don't suppose you know why she had the sudden revelation that I wasn't such a bad guy?"  
  
Kyldre opened the given file on the disk and smiled at Duo, "Since she found out Heero was in love with you."  
  
At that, Duo's knees suddenly felt rather weak as though someone had replaced his bones with lime jello.  
  
Lady Kyldre smiled as she skim read over the facts in Heero's letter she already knew, "That's the thing about common interests, Maxwell-san. It brings a whole new light on subjects. Even love and friendship."  
  
"Is all this part of your compassion for mankind?"  
  
Kyldre sat back in her chair, fingers laced together and lips drawn into a thin line, "Duo... when Heero tried to kill me.. why did you step between us? You hated me so much at that moment. I was the one responsible for your fate, the reason you're dying. So why did you step between me and the bullet?"  
  
Duo shifted uncomfortably, "You know the malfunction of the AA wasn't really your fault. James and the Creator programmed it to default like that. I.. I'm sorry I reacted the way I did." He looked back at her, the dead eyes of a killer once again imbedded in his features rather than the warm soulful violet gems of the past, "But I'm sorry about what I said about you still wanting to distribute the program."  
  
"I agree," she sat up and pulled a hand held pistol from the drawer to her right. Duo sat bolt right and leveled his own gun at her.  
  
She smiled at his reaction and holstered the gun in her belt, "If we're going to stop the Creator and save Heero and James, we'll need to leave now while the surprise can still be had. Who knows whom else that damned machine has under its control. I'll take only my most trusted men with me if you'll show us the way."  
  
Duo nodded, "And the AA?"  
  
"The Apotropaic Apparatus will be banded from the market until we destroy this menace."  
  
"Until.." Duo smiled, "I like your optimism, ojou-san!"  
  
"And I like the cheerful, genuine side of you better than the other." He touched his face lightly, fingers playing over the youthful roundness to his cheeks, which had, though less prominently, remained with him. "You're too young to be bitter. Save that for the future when wars are fairy tails and battle scars become our only link to the truth."  
  
Duo didn't shrink away from her touch but rather from the candor she spoke with, "We'd better go. Get your men. I'll wait here and finished with some loose ends."  
  
Lady Kyldre nodded, stepping towards the door, "Duo?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"You didn't really answer my question."  
  
Duo shook his head, "I guess not. There's really no way to answer it though. Though at the time I thought you were my only enemy, your intensions were pure. You really did just want to provide mankind with something greater than what they have. You weren't really evil, your views just opposed my own. Your intensions were pure, and I don't let good people die if I can prevent it." He looked back at her, "Answer your question now?"  
  
She nodded and smiled warmly, "Peacecraft-sama was right. You are kind and I believe the power to bring out the good still lives in you."  
  
Duo neither approved nor disapproved of her statement as he watched her run from the room towards the officer's lounge.  
  
"We're coming, Heero. It's time to set you free."  
**  
  
The sirens were their only warning and even those had been too late to have been of any help. Under the complete control of the Creator, Heero walked to the operative computer terminal and typed in the code for the surveillance controls. Immediate the image of Duo, Lady Kyldre and perhaps fifteen soldiers were projected on screen.  
  
Duo....  
  
He felt a slight pressure in his shoulder and turned to see James holding a gun out for him, "There's not many. Kill the leaders and the troops become inoperative. Lady Kyldre shouldn't be a problem. I know her strategies."  
  
Heero nodded and took the gun offered him, "And Duo?"  
  
"Kill him." James ordered, "You're one of us. He is expendable as he was in the past. For your future, kill him."  
  
"I...." Power, control, dominance. Heero fought against them from within, clawing his way to the surface of an invisible sea, "I... won't..."  
  
"Won't what?" James asked, glairing at him as he pressed past him to the control board..  
  
"I.. won't.. let him live."  
  
James smiled, "Good." He tossed him an extra clip and listened, as the footsteps grew nearer. Like the predator waits in the brush for the prey to open itself to attack, Heero stood and waited, ready but patent. Meanwhile, James opened a dormant file in the Creators database labeled, 'AA'.  
  
"What's that for?" Heero asked.  
  
"The Creator can wait no longer. I'm going to upload the AA into every computer in this network."  
  
No! Heero shook his head, "They'll die...." His eyes were clamped shut, every muscle tense in his body.  
  
"They were made mortal for the purpose that they could one day be exterminated." James dictated, "The gods of the past made it possible so the gods of the future could rise to power. These gods will be born through the Creator and his master program. Remember what I programmed you to understand."  
  
"Optima quaeque ies mireris mortalibus aevi prima fugit; subeunt morbid tristisque serectus et labor et durae repit inclementai mortis." Heero rattled off as though in his native tounge.  
  
"Very good," James stopped his typing and grabbed his own gun, "It's Latin, you know. The ancient language of the gods. 'And so, for each poor mortal creature the best time of its life is the first to go; diseases come along and sad old age and things become laborious and death, hard death, unsparing, takes us away.' Remember that. It was their promise to mortals that revenge would be served for defying them. It's all part of the universal law. History, when viewed by ignorance, will always repeat itself."  
  
"I don't think so, James."  
  
The blue haired man turned, green eyes focusing on the braided young man standing at the juncture between rooms, "Duo..."  
  
Several more bodies appeared, each armed and ready for a battle. The troops had arrived.  
  
"So very pleased you cold join us, Duo, Lady Kyldre." James bowed courteously, "Welcome to Headquarters. I'm sorry I couldn't welcome you at the door. I've been busy."  
  
Lady Kyldre gave the sign and her men aimed their weapons, "Let Heero go, Creator. And James as well."  
  
James threw his head back in a deep laugh, "Oh please. Your antics are amusing, Lady. If I gave them up I'd have little to protect myself with. I consider them both to be valuable as both my servants and hostages."  
  
Duo's fists drew tight, the tips of his fingernails digging painfully into his palm.  
  
"You bastard. You know we'll kill them if we have to. Where's all that justice you were programmed with? Can't you see it's useless to fight against us?" Lady Kyldre shouted.  
  
"Nothing is useless, my Lady. Not when the end is near and victory is in sight," James smirked, "Still... I don't suppose I need two hostages, now do I?" he turned to Heero, gun raised and pointing at his head, "You may reamin Duo, but unless Kyldre and her men leave, Heero's brains are going to make a very unique pattern on the wall."  
  
Duo's breath was immediately caught in his throat, "N-n-no!" he managed, eyes wide and frightened. "D-don't do it, God, don't let him do it!" he turned to Kyldre, "Get you and your men out of here."  
  
"But Maxwell-san.." a look of scrutiny fell over her round face, "The AA... The Creator..."  
  
"I'll destroy them all, don't worry." Duo placed his hand on her shoulder, "Trust me, as a professional. And if you still believe I have the gift to bring out the best in people, trust me to save Heero and James too."  
  
Kyldre nodded, "Alright, Maxwell-san. I trust you." She turned to her troops, her expression changing to one of undisputable authority, "You heard him. March!"  
  
Duo nodded and turned back to James and Heero. When the door sounded behind Kyldre's men, Duo began to step forward, "They're gone now, Creator. You don't have to threaten Heero anymore. We'll settle this. Just you and me."  
  
The blue tinted glasses slipped down James's nose which he pushed back up with his forefinger, "Oh really? And how do you plan to do that? A duel? A fistfight? You'll only kill your friends that way, Duo. How do you plan to kill the monster without destroying the man?"  
  
Duo winced, "I don't know."  
  
"That's why you fail." James turned, his gun now aimed at Duo, and shot.  
  
The bullet deled deeply into the flesh of his left thy, the pain knocking Duo to his knees. He raised his own gun only to have a second bullet fired into his right shoulder, immobilizing his limb. The gun fell to the ground and was kicked further away by the souls of James's shoes as he loomed over Duo. The barrel of the gun pressed lightly against his face.  
  
"You see, Duo? You've lost already." He gloated, pressing the weapon closer, bruising the skin beneath it.  
  
"I'm not gonna die yet. There's skill Heero to save. I'm not gonna allow myself to die till he's free from your control."  
  
"Do you still doubt my power over him?" James howled, "Do you need a further demonstration of his loyalty to the Creator?" James pushed Duo hard, sitting him back on the ground, "Very well then. Heero," he turned, a wicked smile on his face, "You finished him off."  
  
Every human part of him willed his legs to stop moving forward and his hand to lower or drop the gun he now pointed at his friend's head. No... I still haven't told him...  
  
"Heero?" the voice seemed so small and incredulous.  
  
"I... must obey."  
  
Duo smiled, though tears brimmed his eyes, "You don't have to do anything, Heero. You could fight it before. You can still do it. We can destroy it together."  
  
"It's different now," Heero paused, feeling a foreign wetness dampen his cheeks, "Duo.. I can't stop myself..."  
  
A flicker of hope passed between violet eyes. Heero's gun was held in a white knuckled grip, slightly shaking and wavering while the internal conflict continued.  
  
I can't kill him. I won't do it. I can't do it. I love him. I won't kill him. He has to live. But the blue flames seared through his veins, burning and nulling his senses and will to protest. His finger flexed around the trigger, I'm losing. I'm going to shoot him.. oh god no....  
  
"Duo... I'm sorry...."  
  
The braided youth nodded, pain from his previous wounds flickering across his face. Blood flooded around him like a pond, the metallic sent filling the air, "I know, Heero... we tried to save the world. We tried.." he reached out with his left hand and rested it against Heero's leg, wanting to comfort him, touch him while he still could.  
  
Heero's scream was deafening and was soon joined by another's. Duo's. James watched in horrific silence as the blue-violet viral infection on Duo's arm seemingly became alive. Duo's body was being covered in it further with each passing second as the metal rings Heero wore began to buzz and screech at horrendous decibels. James covered his ears but could not advert his eyes. The blue tinted glass of his glasses shattered with a ping and the frames bounced to the ground. James was lost visually to what was going on in the room but his ears listened as the sounds and screams died. There was another loud clink of metal falling to the floor and one thicker and muffled. Like the sound of a fallen body.  
  
Heero gripped his head as the pain faded. But out of the depths of his pain, realization hit. The will of the Creator was no longer with him. He opened his eyes and looked to his hands. The metal rings were cracked, leaking the blue fluid. The circuitry was gone from his flesh. He had been released. He looked to see his gun lying dormant on the floor by his feet but looked further to the lump on the floor.  
  
Covered in blood, Duo lay motionless, sprawled on his stomach over the cool metal floor. His back was almost completely covered in the viral infection, large patches of pale skin peaking out from under it in random arrangements.  
  
Heero bent down and turned him over. Duo's eyes rolled open them churned within their sockets. His face was almost as badly overtaken. He pulled his body onto his lap and pushed the long jagged bangs from Duo's pained face.  
  
"Duo? Can you hear me?"  
  
"Hai." Duo managed a smile though is voice cracked in ache and exhaustion, "When I get back, I'm requesting vacation time."  
  
Heero laughed. A steady stream of blood flowed from the corner of Duo's mouth and he gently whipped it away, "Don't forget about our date, Duo." He reminded him, "I'm still holding you to it."  
  
"Hai. Our first real date, ne Heero-koi?"  
  
Heero's heart clenched in a painful yet relieving way. Duo had just called him Koi. Sweetheart. Lover. "Duo? You-"  
  
"Ne Heero," Duo interrupted, coughing up more blood as he spoke, "How long have you loved me?"  
  
"Since before I knew what love was," Heero answered truthfully. He held Duo tighter, mindful but not overly so of the deformities his hands caressed along his body.  
  
Duo's eyes became heavy, slipping half shut with a soft growl of pain, "That sounds nice. I think it was he same for me, ya know? I've just kind of been waiting for you to say something."  
  
"Sorry it took so long."  
  
Duo smiled, his eyes falling completely, "That's okay. At least I found out before it was too late."  
  
"Duo.." Heero shook his body slightly, trying not to jar his injuries to hard. There was no response. "Duo? Duo!"  
  
James, though almost blind to the scene, felt tears slip down his face.  



	9. Nine

Relena stood at the window, her hair rustling in the wind as an unseen breeze blew though. It had been weeks since Duo had last contacted her. Not only that but James had been missing for almost the same amount of time. She whipped at her eyes, finding them fogged with an unreasonable moistness. There were no formal reports or even informal ones stating that either were dead. She needn't cry for them. Or Heero. She felt something wet roll down her cheeks despite her efforts. Perhaps Heero deserved her tears though. From what the Lady Kyldre had told her upon questioning about Duo's past and, Duo's future was to be short lived. No matter what the outcome, someone's heart was bound to break. If Heero was still alive, and she could only hope he was, there was no telling how long it would be for Duo to find him and for the two to get together. Another tear slipped down her face. It was her fault, she admitted, that they hadn't gotten together after the war. She'd dragged Heero away, too deluded with her own dreams to realize those of others. And too see what had become of the victim of her games... more tears, now free to fall, joined to others. Perhaps the whole mess could have been avoided had she relinquished her nameless claim to the Wing pilot. He'd shown her kindness but not affection. Such blindness was only to be blamed on lust. To be rich and popular gave one an air of invincibility. And from the first glimpse she had had of Heero Yuy, she had wanted him. And she would have him. She'd played the game of desire too long now though. And the one she really wanted more then anything was now oblivious to her feelings for him. Single mindedness sucked, sometimes. This was defiantly one of those times.   
  
"No more tears, ojou-san."  
  
Relena turned around quickly, her hair blinding her for a second before falling back in its place at her shoulders.   
  
"Duo!"  
  
He smiled, genuinely, becoming what she once remembered him as, "Mission Accomplished."   
  
"Y-you found him?" she asked.  
  
Duo nodded, winking at her, "No sweat. When Duo Maxwell's on the job, it's a matter or when and not if." He found a chair and sat back in it, twirling around on the revolving roller.  
  
Relena grabbed a hold of her chair, balancing herself, "H-how? How did you do it? Lady Kyldre told me he was under the control of some corrupted computer. How did you break its power over him?  
  
"I'm not entirely sure it was me," Duo admitted, lacing his fingers behind his head, "It's all kind of hazy up to a point. I remember Heero pointing the gun at my head and reaching out for him and then nothing up until he was holding me and telling me not to die."  
  
She took all the information in with great anticipation, "You don't remember anything?"  
  
"Other than what I've been told, no. Lady Kyldre says it might have something to do with the AA viral strand. She's pretty sure that when it made contact with Heero's enteched body, the existing AA program sought to purify it. If that's true then I guess I've become a walking viral vacuum cleaner." Duo laughed at himself, tugging self-consciously at his left sleeve. "My friend thinks a little differently though. He says the control devices short-circuited cause they couldn't deal with all the emotions, his and Heero's combined. It could be both reasons, one of them or none at all. It doesn't matter though. We're okay now and the Creator's on its way to that happy scrap heap in Hell. And just so you know, I got your 3 million dollar man downstairs. Heero's waiting for me to tie things up here."  
  
She smiled, "Finally told you, did he?"  
  
"No. Kyldre did. But I'll tell you what. Love is one hell of a great incentive to put your ass on the line!" he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, "Which reminds me, how did you know Heero liked me? Why didn't you say anything?"  
  
Relena shrugged, "I was jealous. He told me.. or rather.. I found out a long time ago. I just didn't want to believe it. I thought I was in love with him...."  
  
"Are you?"  
  
She shook her head, "No. It was just some teenaged phase. I'll always be fond of him, but it was never love."  
  
Duo nodded, "So what will you do now?"  
  
"I don't know," she looked at her hands, as though the answer was written on her palms, "I didn't really think about it since you're going to kill me."  
  
Duo shook his head, and evil grin on his face, "No, ojou-san. I'm not going to kill you. Not anymore."  
  
Her eyes flew wide, "But the money-?"  
  
"The mission was sent through Headquarters." He interrupted, "Seeing as it's not exactly the most trustworthy of systems as of now, I've declared that mission non in void. You're free to go on living a normal life."  
  
Relief washed through her though suppressed by guilt and worry, "And what about you? Lady Kyldre told me... that you were dying."  
  
Duo sat back, letting out a long puff of breath, "Yeah."  
  
"How long do you have?"  
  
"As long as I want." He pulled the sleeve back on his left side, showing her the pale fleshy color of his skin, unmarked by blemishes of any kind, save a small light pink scar on the upside of his forearm. "The Creator, the computer used at Headquarters, had mastered a type of technology to use computer data to restore human cells. Heero used it on me to patch me up and figured out a way to push the effects of the AA back. I'll need to be treated every once and a while but I'm in no immediate danger."  
  
She latched her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, "I'm so glad."  
  
Astonished, Duo hesitated before reaching around and returning the embrace, "You know, if a certain someone walks in here right now, he's gonna get jealous."  
  
"Heero?"  
  
"No, me."  
  
Relena turned her head and stared into sparkling green eyes framed behind clear half shaped glasses. "James!"  
  
He smiled at her and opened his arms for her to run into. She did. With her tear streaked face hidden in his shirt, he held her tightly, whispering words of comfort.  
  
"Good to see you're back," Duo commented, "How did things go at HQ?"  
  
"The Creator's been destroyed," James informed him, "I deleted all the files then set the self destruction sequence. There's nothing more to worry about now or every again."  
  
"How but you? You feeling okay?"  
  
James scratched the back of his head, "I guess so. To have one's own creation turn on you is a little unnerving. I still find it hard to believe. To think, I could have destroyed all of humanity."  
  
"It wouldn't have been your fault. The Creator was using you. Damn tricky bastard machine was real cleaver about it to. Who would have thought his control devise was your glasses? I doubt even you suspected it." Duo shook his head, "I'm glad it's over though. Guess it's time to return to a normal life."  
  
"Or as normal as it gets, " James said with a good-natured laugh.   
  
The braided youth stood, patting James on the shoulder as he walked past, "Take care. Of yourself and Miss Peacecraft. And keep in touch if ya can cause I'm still pissed off that you got me dragged through all that for nothing."  
  
"Nothing?" James pulled Relena away from him, wrapping one arm around her waist as she stood beside him, "You call Heero nothing?"  
  
"Hey, I already had Heero." He cast a devious crooked grin, "I just never knew it."  
  
"Get out of here," James pointed to his watch, "You're gonna be late."  
  
"Kuso!" Duo waved the good bye as he trotted out the door and exited into the darkened hallways.  
  
"James.. I" Relena began. A soft finger silenced her and was soon replaced with even softer lips.  
  
"I know," he said when he pulled away, "Me too."  
**  
  
Heero leaned against the light post, hands in the pockets of his jacket. His hair was a mess, as usual, but he'd changed into a decent pair of jeans and a T-shirt after the Creator incident. He saw Duo coming and smiled, standing upright and watching with fascination as the long braid seemed to bounce with it's own life force.  
  
"Hey, Heero!" he said, "Sorry if I'm late. Took me a while longer than I expected."  
  
Heero said nothing but instead drew Duo close for a deep kiss, which left both breathless.  
  
"Guess I'm forgiven!" he said sheepishly, knowing a blush was rising in his cheeks.  
  
"Perhaps." Heero extended his arm from Duo to hold and began walking with his koi at his side, "Did you clear everything up?"  
  
Duo nodded, "She took it all rather well. And I think she and James are gonna make a great couple."  
  
Heero grunted, "Not as great as us."  
  
"I'll believe that." Duo snuggled close, "You know, I don't think I could have picture a better way for things to end."  
  
"There's no such thing as a happy ending, Duo. Because nothing ever ends, just like this." He squeeze Duo's hand as he pushed opened the door to the restaurant and lead the way to their reserved table.  
  
"Heero Yuy the romantic. I never thought it possible."  
  
"A lot changes in three years."  
  
Duo leaned forward and kissed Heero, long and hard, "A lot changes, but I grantee this is only going to get better."  



End file.
